Show us what you are working on in SimCity 3000!

[Gernot66 186]

I guess you will like this new addition,

A smaller sized is planned but recently i need a break from chimneys, i'm not sure how i will solve it for a smaller size, the copper edging is alright but if the chimney is smaller i need a different idea. The shading isn't ideal the reason is the small size of the object (32 pixels wide) everything bleeds into the other and a slightly darker area easy looks like wrong lightened.

Of course the other rooftop objects are ready as well and are now textured (and branded a.t.d)..

If you use a temporary pole of bricks and work from top down you can stack up the tubes, but i guess the hats are more useful as the tubes. The neon hangsign is a leftover from the "neon glyphs" i made, this one i made first using only a paint program and a suitable font (since it's "unreadable" it won't matter so much if it appears several times in the city). The aircondition block(s) can be combined as well.

Since these are mostly rooftop objects i dropped them all into one zipped folder "rooftop1".

Looks like i like to create "LEGO" bricks, it seems to be in my venes daddy worked as engineer for a injection machine factory which elaborated the standard bricks, it took some time until they reached the needed precision that's why i had standard bricks en masse (either to loose or to heavy bound) and if i would still own them they would be absolute rarities (pink and blue melange, semi transparent and whatever was at hand) since i've read LEGO doesn't likes reject to be spread and this makes them quite rare, but who cared back then for such? No one liked them one could say, they wasn't "original".

---

Looks like i forgot to post this - never mind you will have noticed the new rooftop props.

I revisited all cars and added a few more color variations plus a new set of cars. I also sorted them new though that all vehicles from Streets of SimCity are in an own zipped folder. Mainly i did this to have a uniform scale by using a groundplate in the size of the bounding box, the same method as i already use for the other props. Streets vehicles are to handle seperate since they have a non metrical scale and also vary in scale (i.e. the "traffic mercury" (unused sine i have a better mercury) is far to small compared to the "Streetrat" (beetle), the "Sedan" (a sort of dodge charger i assume) is a giant even compared to the "Northtown J57", it seems each has a different scale, dunno why perhaps to make it harder for the faster cars (as wider as harder to take the turns). Most of all the dummy helps me to position the object already when rendering. Before i can post the new set and the revisited old i have to make sure they work fine, it will take until tomorrow.

But i have an appetizer for you, i've read that the farms look very "U.S." (indeed they do), further if you click on a field you hear a clear "muhhh", quite strange crops which make such a sound. Streets has a cow model (just as target, it counts how many times you shot a cow while it has no influence on the game but one could use it as a condition in a scenario) thus i thought, "let's get the streets cow into sc3k". Overall i made four variations, the "original" dark brown black-spotted, a "holsteiner" (white with black spots) and a browns (Swiss) plus a calf which is simply 2/3 of the brown.

Of course i already planned to make european (swiss) style farm buildings.

It's a bit to crowded but it's just a test.

Since this is only a prop you can assemble your own cattle or use them otherwise.

What could suit better as SimCars?

To the cars i added almost all Streets models (with exclusion of the mercury). for some i used the minimal textures they have, for some i revisited the ones i made for the game or used them as they are, the "Azzaroni" (prob. a Ferrari GTO, it's not to clear for this one) has a complete new texture based on what i made for Streets (i removed the artificial shading on the texture because it looks better without, resp. when i leave it up to the raytracing).

volvo  pickup cop cow

northtown j57 gangster azzaroni

kraft durch freude sedan utility

The Beetle, Sedan was until present in "vehicles1", the Utility Van (orig. blue) in "utility vehicles". Therefore i added a couple of new cars to "vehicles1", they are from the same low-poly set as the ones which i already used in "vehicles 1",

corolla civic riviera

(pops: "a baroque church instead of a radiator grille", it must be a buick)

mercury, i hope it's not completely wrong since the colored skin for this model is very lousy and it was not to figure out where the enamel ends and the chrome or woodgrain-imitate starts, since i have no web at home it's based on what i remeber and a brief appearance in a crime story i watched not to long ago.

The Stretch Limo is now in scale and one cell shorter

To the utility vehicles i added the cube van (truck) 

But as i said i need a day to make sure that everything is as expected, "vehicles 1" is broken in the version in uploaded it, some .met files have errors in it (wrong listing).

The cars are still somewhat larger as the standard ones, but i oriented myself on the buildings and the sims (compare the mercury in the BAT to a Sim, you would have to fold a person to have enough space in it, while if you compare my schoolbus to the schoolbus in background it's quite good in scale). However, even if a pixel or two larger they are as well a little smaller in scale as the sims or the buildings, it's a compromise.

[Quelquechosedautre 337]

By the way, we have a place farming Lhamas near here - and it would fit in with the running gag on SimCity!

[thiekus 49]

In spare time, I'm reversing SC3U based on retail CD release build that contains embedded debug information on sc3u.icd which I have told before on Simtropolis Discord chat. Not much I can do for now, but by using debugger I managed to force invoke sc3u integrated internal web browser which unused in final sc3u. It's slow and barely render HTML, no window resizing, loading over HTTP is often not work, HTTPS is out of question. No wonder why this feature along some internet feature like IRC were cut on sc3u and left behind in game executable.

[Gernot66 186]

On 12.4.2025 at 11:07 AM, Quelquechosedautre said:

By the way, we have a place farming Lhamas near here - and it would fit in with the running gag on SimCity!

Llamas are quite popular, hm? They are welcome as shepherds (their size).

 

I'm working on the roofing ridge you asked forand for this i used the BAT lighting, but i already expected this the result i get in blender isn't what it turns to in the bat, neither for the final rendering or the display in the bat. It needs some tweking even if i'm now pretty close to it.

Excerpt bat.ini

[Lights]

; There are six lights in the 3DS scene Ocean set up for 3K buildings.  
; All lights are "free directional."  
;
; 1) pointing in the +Y direction, RGB 98,98,133, multiplier=1.3
; 2) pointing in the -Y direction, RGB 98,98,133, multiplier=1.3
; 3) pointing in the +X direction, RGB 255,249,232, multiplier=1.3
; 4) pointing in the -X direction, RGB 255,249,232, multiplier=1.3
; 5) pointing downward ~15 degrees off of vertical in the -Y,+X direction;  RGB 198,198,198, multiplier=0.75
; 6) pointing downward ~15 degrees off of vertical in the +Y,-X direction;  RGB 198,198,198, multiplier=0.75


; These lights are only used in construct mode
ConstructNorth=164,164,164
ConstructWest=72,72,72
ConstructSouth=164,164,164
ConstructEast=72,72,72
ConstructTop=141,141,141

; These lights are only used in paint / detail / placement modes
TextureNorth=190,174,164
TextureWest=71,71,91
TextureSouth=190,174,164
TextureEast=71,71,91
TextureTop=141,141,141

; These lights are used in file mode, and 
; to preview and render the result for SimCity.
PreviewNorth=190,174,164
PreviewWest=71,71,91
PreviewSouth=190,174,164
PreviewEast=71,71,91
PreviewTop=141,141,141

What i use now is something in between the rendering lighting setup and the colors for the paint mode.

Indeed it's already pretty close - but not close enough for a fabrics technician

One set i will make using the roof textures of the bat another i started using own textures they must not fit in lighting setup but it won't harm them. A third which i need the lighting setup for is a blank object one can apply a texture and when blending it using a multiply mode the artificial shading will be as close as possible.

like this (lighting as the original ocean scene),

below the ridge using an own texture, exists already in red and orange and more different textured will follow.

 

 

 

[Gernot66 186]

22 hours ago, thiekus said:

In spare time, I'm reversing SC3U based on retail CD release build that contains embedded debug information on sc3u.icd which I have told before on Simtropolis Discord chat. Not much I can do for now, but by using debugger I managed to force invoke sc3u integrated internal web browser which unused in final sc3u. It's slow and barely render HTML, no window resizing, loading over HTTP is often not work, HTTPS is out of question. No wonder why this feature along some internet feature like IRC were cut on sc3u and left behind in game executable.

That looks very interesting.

[fantanoice 19]

On 4/15/2025 at 4:04 AM, thiekus said:

In spare time, I'm reversing SC3U based on retail CD release build that contains embedded debug information on sc3u.icd which I have told before on Simtropolis Discord chat. Not much I can do for now, but by using debugger I managed to force invoke sc3u integrated internal web browser which unused in final sc3u. It's slow and barely render HTML, no window resizing, loading over HTTP is often not work, HTTPS is out of question. No wonder why this feature along some internet feature like IRC were cut on sc3u and left behind in game executable.

Wow, this is cool! Projects like this makes me hope that one day we'll get a SimCity 3000 recompilation like Ocarina of Time.

[Quelquechosedautre 337]

On 4/14/2025 at 4:45 PM, Gernot66 said:

Llamas are quite popular, hm? They are welcome as shepherds (their size).

 

I'm working on the roofing ridge you asked forand for this i used the BAT lighting, but i already expected this the result i get in blender isn't what it turns to in the bat, neither for the final rendering or the display in the bat. It needs some tweking even if i'm now pretty close to it.

Excerpt bat.ini

[Lights]

; There are six lights in the 3DS scene Ocean set up for 3K buildings.  
; All lights are "free directional."  
;
; 1) pointing in the +Y direction, RGB 98,98,133, multiplier=1.3
; 2) pointing in the -Y direction, RGB 98,98,133, multiplier=1.3
; 3) pointing in the +X direction, RGB 255,249,232, multiplier=1.3
; 4) pointing in the -X direction, RGB 255,249,232, multiplier=1.3
; 5) pointing downward ~15 degrees off of vertical in the -Y,+X direction;  RGB 198,198,198, multiplier=0.75
; 6) pointing downward ~15 degrees off of vertical in the +Y,-X direction;  RGB 198,198,198, multiplier=0.75


; These lights are only used in construct mode
ConstructNorth=164,164,164
ConstructWest=72,72,72
ConstructSouth=164,164,164
ConstructEast=72,72,72
ConstructTop=141,141,141

; These lights are only used in paint / detail / placement modes
TextureNorth=190,174,164
TextureWest=71,71,91
TextureSouth=190,174,164
TextureEast=71,71,91
TextureTop=141,141,141

; These lights are used in file mode, and 
; to preview and render the result for SimCity.
PreviewNorth=190,174,164
PreviewWest=71,71,91
PreviewSouth=190,174,164
PreviewEast=71,71,91
PreviewTop=141,141,141

What i use now is something in between the rendering lighting setup and the colors for the paint mode.

Indeed it's already pretty close - but not close enough for a fabrics technician

One set i will make using the roof textures of the bat another i started using own textures they must not fit in lighting setup but it won't harm them. A third which i need the lighting setup for is a blank object one can apply a texture and when blending it using a multiply mode the artificial shading will be as close as possible.

like this (lighting as the original ocean scene),

below the ridge using an own texture, exists already in red and orange and more different textured will follow.

 

 

 

A plain one that could be coloured and tinted by the user would be preferred - one just like the other bricks.

[Quelquechosedautre 337]

Hermes of Paris 

 

  Edited July 12, 2025 by CorinaMarie  
Made the BAT name a linky to the STEX file.

[Captain Adam 422]

New building pack soon 

[CorinaMarie 29,856]

Nice work! And that little short duplex one reminds me of the model CB used for our Village Hall in SC4.  

[Captain Adam 422]

It is crazy how much detailed props/paints can change the look of a building.

[CorinaMarie 29,856]

2 hours ago, Captain Adam said:

It is crazy how much detailed props/paints can change the look of a building.

That looks so much better indeed.  

Btw, feel free to also add a linky to your STEX entry when you post here so peeps can find it with a single click.

Example: Madras Corporation Building (Tokyo)

[Captain Adam 422]

New releases

Older stuff I didn't post here:

 

[Terring 6,476]

Last time I've had played SimCity 3000, which was my very first SC game by the way, was almost 20 years ago. As soon as I got SimCity 4 at my hands in 2008, SC3K became a memory for me. A memory made by beautiful moments full of fun and experimentation. In fact, it was both playing SimCity 3000 and my university studies as an environmental engineer that led me to discover The Venus Project and Jacque Fresco's ideas about a Resource-Based Economy back in 2005. Now it's high time to bring back those memories and have some old-school fun. Don't worry, though. I'm not gonna abandon SimCity 4 and my Welcome to Fairview CJ.

Back then I also used to download buildings from sites such as Gemika's Reality and make my own too. My buildings were simple designed and as terrible as you can imagine. Terring's Terrible Buildings, SC3K edition . Fortunately I don't have them anymore. Trust me, you don't want to see them. They're that bad. But now it's time to make better buildings (I hope). First stop, parks. I made some custom parks to replace the in-game ones, designed to blend together to form virtual paths and sidewalks. We have a small park with a tree and some benches, a big park with more trees and a central clearing for picnics, a fountain with custom textures and props made by Night Angel, a simple pond (maybe too simple) with a green fence to protect the ducks from hazards, and a playground with a central kiosk for parents to take a rest and watch their kids playing around. Think I should upload them? What do you think?

[CorinaMarie 29,856]

30 minutes ago, Terring said:

Think I should upload them?

Certainly!  

While 3000 isn't as popular as it once was, there are still players and they still like new content.

[Captain Adam 422]

Wow, you can actually access that site normally without the use of Internet Archive and download the props from there, what a great find!

[Terring 6,476]

7 hours ago, Captain Adam said:

Wow, you can actually access that site normally without the use of Internet Archive and download the props from there, what a great find!

Holy cow, you're right!

https://www.angelfire.com/empire/gemikas_reality/

  Edited October 18, 2025 by Terring  
Added the link

[CorinaMarie 29,856]

6 hours ago, Terring said:

https://www.angelfire.com/empire/gemikas_reality/

I just peeked over there and they have some nice buildings.  

I did notice this in the section for their own:

Quote

Thank you for visiting my buildings site I'm really sorry that these buildings can't be downloaded here it is because of the size and storage space they allow me to have here. I want to use the space I have for Props, Details,and Paints I plan to add as much as I can.

I wonder if our Simtropolis could help them?  They could, perhaps, create a Club here and that could be used for hosting the files they don't have room for on their own site. 

[Captain Adam 422]

The site was lasted updated on May 20, 2002, who knows if the person(s) behind it are still around.

[Terring 6,476]

One thing that always bothered me a bit in SC3K was the fact that, just like in classic SimCity and in SC2K, you can't change the orientation of the buildings. Unlike SC4, you can't rotate and turn the buildings as you wish in order to get a realistic-looking result, even if they'll still work just fine no matter what. A good example is the train station. As you can see, its platform is at the south-east side of the building and the access ramps and stairs are at the north-west side. So, if you wish to get a more realistic-looking result, you picked the wrong game because SC3K burns realism to the ground and throws its ashes to the nearest trash can!
Heck yeah!!

Oh, sorry for that. Let's go back to the topic 

As I said, if you wand a more realistic-looking train station in SC3K, you might want to build the rails at the south-east side of the station and the road at the north-west side. However, no matter the orientation and the direction of the rail, the train station will still function just fine. The configuration of the transit system surrounding the train station doesn't affect its job and its efficiency at all. The "problem" is just aesthetics. Nothing else.

However I decided to make a little experiment. How about a train station with its ramps and platforms in all sides? This is the result.

This experimental train station has its platforms and access ramps and stairs in all 4 sides, so Sims can hop on/off the trains in any orientation. Well, they can do it in the Maxis train station too, but here you can "see" it a little better. It also comes with clocks, benches, and tents to protect your Sims from the rain.

And with solar panels, a green roof, and nanotech glasses. Sorry, I couldn't resist  

This is just an experiment. The real deal will be with the civic infrastructures, such as the police station and the school. Can we make them look cool and realistic, no matter where and how we place them? I think yes, and I have an idea how to do it.
More soon 

[The Thinker 479]

That's good and all, but what about the lack of a platform on the other side of the tracks?  

 

 

 

_{We shall ignore the fact that this is an issue in (unmodded) SC4 as well...}

[Terring 6,476]

16 hours ago, The Thinker said:

That's good and all, but what about the lack of a platform on the other side of the tracks?  

Just build a second station. Or, just tell your Sims to cross the rails. What could possible go wrong? 

[Terring 6,476]

A modular marina with a helipad. Obviously not ready yet. Need to find a less silly water paint and make the helipad, and maybe even add a lounge room and a lighthouse.

[The Thinker 479]

Embellishing our city's green credentials somewhat...

 

[The Thinker 479]

The city of Twaddleborough has hit (and passed) the year 2050, which of course means...

SPAAAACCEE!!!!  *insert Tim Curry Command & Conquer GIF here*

Indeed, however...

Yeah, uh, a little help here with the name...?

[Terring 6,476]

This building is a concept I've been thinking of it for a long time. I'm not going to reveal what is this yet. It's a surprise  . I can only reveal that It's 5X5 and as tall as it can get.

I have a problem with the roof, however. It's supposed to be a dome, but I haven't figure out yet a way to make a nice-looking dome-shaped structure.

Update: I did it! I found a way to make the dome. Now it's time to paint it and add some extra details.

In case you're wondering, I found the solution from an old spherical building found here. All I had to do is copy the pattern.

  Edited November 23, 2025 by Terring  
Just to avoid double post.

[Terring 6,476]

I've finished with my concept, so now I can reveal what the heck is this.

What you see here... is a stadium. Actually, no. It's 5 stadiums on top of each other, all sharing the same roof! Why using so much land for your stadiums, when you can just stack them up to build a vertical multi-stadium? Each one comes with a unique color to tell them apart and get an indication of what kind of sports can have. Blue for polo, yellow for tennis, white for hockey, red for basketball, and green for football. Oh, and a dome that can open during football matches when the weather is good enough.

What do you think?  

[catty-cb 4,412]

I like it 

[Captain Adam 422]

On 01/11/2025 at 11:16 PM, Terring said:

A modular marina with a helipad. Obviously not ready yet. Need to find a less silly water paint and make the helipad, and maybe even add a lounge room and a lighthouse.

Where did you find the boat props 

[Terring 6,476]

4 minutes ago, Captain Adam said:

Where did you find the boat props 

Go here --> http://alberdina.20m.com/index.html

You'll find them at the Grand Banks button